Monday, May 20th

Daily checks

TO DO

Inventory

  • I talked to Justin (Toolik manager) about the canopy tent. We agreed that we can build it without asking BLM (quote: “better ask for forgiveness than permission”). He will let us know if BLM comes visit - if so, we will pack everything. The plan is for Anssi and I to build it tomorrow. It’s going to rain Wed/Thur/Fri so we can make sure it’s waterproof before we install instruments in it.
  • O3 sonde prep unit + O3 sondes (x2) + NOAA laptop: LAB1.
  • Helium tanks for balloon (balloon grade): 3 large ones + 1 smaller one.
  • Kestrel in Box#2 (warm storage).
  • Kestrel works with 1 AA battery.
  • Cold storage (south entrance): CPS is currently using the building for construction work/storage. They’re leaving Toolik on June 6th. I’ll check with them if we can use the building before that to store the balloon.

Sunday, May 19th

O3 calibration

I let the calibrator stabilize for ~1hr.

  • Slow O3

Set to 0 ppbv from 10:20am (AST) to 10:30.
Set to 25 ppbv from 10:30 to 10:40.
Set to 50 ppbv from 10:40 to 10:50.
Set to 100 ppbv from 10:50 to 11:00.
Set to 200 ppbv from 11:00 to 11:10.

  • Fast O3

Started calibration at 2:14pm AST (delete data ~20-30 min before, took me several attempts to connect the sample lines). Ended calibration around 4pm AST.

Daily checks

  • Lab temperature = 22°C, AC temperature = 68F.
  • Case temperature: fast O3 = ~22°C, fast NOx = ~19°C.
  • Drierite OK.
  • Fast O3: OK, NO flow rate OK.
  • Fast NOx: OK.
  • GC/MS: running, water level OK.
  • Gas tanks: OK.

Saturday, May 18th

Question for Detlev: On the picture below, the filter on the left is ours (fast O3/NOx systems), the one on the right is for the PTR-TOF-MS. Do you think they are too close to each other or that their inlet might interfere with ours? I just want to make sure that this setup is okay.

Friday, May 17th

Make room in the hut for Lu/Catie’s instrument

Catastrophe! While slightly moving the NPL tank, a short-circuit happened. I saw sparks and the GC/MS stopped. Everything that was connected to CKT 10 stopped. Strange thing, the fast NOx instrument stopped as well (at least the UPS + fan of H20 pump + laptop). NO flow on fast O3 instrument dropped to 0. I think the line between the NPL tank and the GC/MS touched CKT 10 and that’s how everything happened (see pics below). Jacques and I disconnected everything (computer, GC/MS, UPS) from CKT 10 and connected to CKT 17 instead. GC/MS restarted, fast NOx as well. We will check tomorrow that everything is indeed okay.

The NO flow dropping to 0 on the fast O3 has actually nothing to do with the short-circuit. The needle valve was not sufficiently open. Problem fixed. Keep an eye on this NO flow to make sure it doesn’t drop to 0 again.

Pics of the NPL tank line, CKT 10 and floor below CKT 10.

Fast systems

  • pump box outside and protected from rain.
  • fast O3 and NOx restarted
  • The fast NOx PMT temperature was too high, that was because the H20 pump was not working properly (air bubbles). Problem fixed.
  • The O2 flow on the fast NOx is highly variable (from 170 to 200). Don’t know why. After lunch, varies from 190 to 200. Keep an eye on that in the next couple days.
  • Background on fast NOx seems pretty high - Double check that tomorrow.
  • Double-checked that fast NOx is sampling from outside (cf high background). Here is what I have:
  • Double-checked that zero air is connected to fast NOx system and zero air tank opened.
  • Save fast NOx data on fast O3 laptop: USB-serial cables (COM 15 on fast O3, COM 8 on fast NOx) connected by NULL modem cable. Jacques is updating the VIs to make the data transfer possible.

Flux hut upgrades

Thursday, May 16th

I made it to Toolik after a 10hr-drive. There’s still snow in Atigun Pass but snow is gone pretty much everywhere else.